Meter



Nov. 8, 1927.

J. E. McALLlsTER METER l Filed July 12, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. E.MALL|STER METER l Filed July 12, 1922 4'Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. s, 1927.1,648,491

ATTORNEY.

Nov. s, 1927. 1,648,491

J. E. McALL-ISTER METER Filed July l2. l92 2 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 JohnLMC/Instar INVENToR.

Patented Nov. 8,.,192'1,

' UNITED STA JOHN E. MUALIJSTEB,

'rss PMENTA OFFICE.

yor' cLEvELANn, onto.

METER. n

` Application led July 1.2,

This inventionrelates to meters of the type Alargely used for measuringwater supplied to domestic users by municipal water works, although theVsame is not limited either to this liquidl or to this type of use. Theessentials of such a device are simplicity, cheapness, accuracy, longlife, and sen` sitiveness to small flows. The usual type of such meterhas become fixed by selection and custom to that having a nutating disk,connected by reducing gearing to an1 integrating train, submerged inwater in order to avoid the neeessity of employing a high speedstuiiingbox, although the integrating train is generv ally separated fromthe'fwater chamber by va stufng boX.,owingA to the' fact that the speedof the rotating member at this point has been so reduced by the gearingthat the wear upon the stuffing box and the retarding efi'ect of thefriction are both negligible. However the submergence of the gear trainin the water tends to produce a rapid` ing surfaces; and the provisionof a gear-v ing for this purpose which shall be mounted with a maximumof simplicityso as to re'- duce the likelihood of disalignment. Furtherobjects of the invention relateVv to improvements in the -mod'e ofconnecting thenutating disk with the gear train so as to' reduce thefriction to the smallest possible degree and the provision of new,improved, and

.simplified means for vholding the nut'ating i disk a ainst rotation;while further objects and a vantages of my invention will become `18traversed by the upright diaphragm plate y apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

In thedrawings accompanying and forming a part of' this application Ihave shown certain physical forms in which my inventive idea can' beembodied, although without intent to limit myself thereto since the sameare intended to be merelyyillustrative and not limiting upon me. Fig. 1is a vertical sectional view through av preferred form of meterembodying my improvements, Fig. 2 is a similarvview showing amodification;

said gearlng `being necessarily ychamber prepared therefor;

1922. Seal No. 574,512.'

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3--3'of Fig. 1 and lookingin the direction of the arrows; Fig. 4 is a sectional view corres ondingto the line 4.-.-4 of Fig. 2, and

loo ing in the direction of the arrows; Fig.

5 is a vertical sectional view through a gearing embodying my inventionas designed for replacement purposesin existing types of meters; Fig. 6is a sectionalfview of the -metershown in Fig. 1, the upper part of the'metering chamber being removed to show my improved nutating disk; andFig. 7 is a side elevation of the metering chamber shown in Fig.l 1 withmy improved disk therein.

r Describing the parts by reference numerals, 1 represents the metercasing which may be of anysuitable or desired shape and size,

that shown in Fig. 1 having intermediate of its helght an annularinternal lseat 2 defining `two chambers, one for the reception of themetering chamber and the other for. the reducing gearing. The meteringchamber is made of a pair of hollow, non-corrodible members 3, 4, fittedaccurately together and preferably presenting a slightly taperedexterior surface adapted to fit snugly in the The interior of themetering* chamber is formed in the usual manner for the reception of thenutating disk 5 and its central ball 6,' and the member 4 is formedexteriorly with a seat 7 adapted to rest against the packing 8 of thefrangible cap 9 which is secured in place by thebolts 10 in such wise asto yield or break upon `freezing in the usual manner. The correspondingpart of th'e other member, 3, is formed with a central opening 12disclosingy the ball and surrounded by an .upstanding flange 13 on whichis seated the circular plate 14, the top of the member 3 being alsoformed with spaced bosses 15, 15 to which this plate is fastenedbyscrews 16.

The side walls of the members 3 and 4 are formed at one point withregistering notches i 19 which is inset tightly so as both to fixlmember 4. In accordance with the illustray tion of the drawings I shallhereafter denominate this the bottom of the casing, although I do notrestrict myself to such use nor 1s the meter restricted to suchposition. In order to reach the inlet the liquid must flow over, around,and under themetering chamber, a screen 25 being preferably provided atsome point in its course. The top of the casing is formed with av web 26surmounted by a hollow cup 27 upon which is aicasing 28 having therein asuitable integrating train such as 1s shown in Fig. 2. Journaled in thecenter of this web'is a rotatable spindle 30 having at its lower end afork or other coupling element 31 and having its upper end connected tothe integrating train y the gears 32, known as change ears, leakage atthis pointv being prevented y a stuiiingbox 33. The parts heretoforedescribed are old and standard, and my improvements will now bedescribed.

Mounted for universal movement above the metering casing and operativelyconnected with the ball 6 is a nutating staff 35 having intermediate itsends the ball 36, and operatively associated with the upper end of thatstad 1s 'a gear wheel 37. Of the numerous possible'modes of mounting andoperating this staii', I prefer that shown -in Fig. 1, though othermodes, such as shown in Fig. 2 are entirely operative. In Fig. 1 theplate 14 carries a depending hollow cone 38 in which t the ball 36 ismounted and through whichl thestaii' 35 extends. The angle of this coneis` the same as the angle of nu'tation of the the staff 35 which engagesa roller or en-v disk 5, and the ball 6 is provided with an axial pin 39called the control bar which re- This pin may be ball may be made solidas shown in Fig. 2. Prefera ly vthe ball is formed around the upper endof this pin with a recess 40 receiving largement 41 on the pin. Withthis arrangement the staii' 35 follows the nutation of the disk 5 andthe effect of the stall is to hold the control bar away from the cone,thereby decreasing friction. Indeed underordinary circumstances thecontrol bar never comes into contact with the cone, but other arranements can be employed as will hereafter` described.

In Fig. 1 the sun gear wheel 37 is shown as provided with a hub 42 whichloosely receives the ball '43 formed on the upper end of the staff 35.rotation of the gear being prevented by a finger 44 engaging a ost 45 onthe plate 14; I have shown the one post is enough. Secured to the plate14 is ia bracket 46 having a vertical bearing 47 directly in line Withthe axes o,f the balls 6 and 36, and journaled in said bearing is thehub of 'a spider`48 to which `is secured an internal or planet gear 49.meshing with the gear 37.. Above the bearing 47 and rotatable 'with thespider 48 is an eccentric 50 on which is sleeved a second gear 51similar to the gear 37 and similarly restrained from rota- `tion by thelingers 52 engaging the post 53 Acarried by the'bracket 56.

The eccentric is formed with a Vertical socket in line with the bearing47 receiving a rotatable arbor 57 which supports and-centersthe spider58, which in turn carries the internal or planet gear 59 meshing withthe sun gear 51. The spider 58 is formed for engagement with the forkt1-whereby the spindle 30 is driven. The external and internal gearshaving unequal numbers of teeth, the result of their interaction is aslow, diil'erential progression, and the two differential gears beingarran ed in series, the eifect of the one is multip ied to that of theother.'` The speedreduction is so great that the movement of the partsis very slow, added to lwhich the amount of'tootll surface in contact atall times is very great. All the gearing is supported from thesinglebearing 47 and the number of parts is a minimum. Moreover these partscan be duplicates in case the ultimate ratio be a perfect square.Standard meters are now in use having ratios of 144 to 1, 168 to 1, and256 to 1. The first named ratio can be secured by two 12 to 1ydifferential gears and the last by two 16 to 1 differential gears, whilethe second dii'ers from a pair of 13 toil gears by an amount that isinside the accepted tolerance limits.

It should be noted, however, that both the ratio and the directionbecome changed depending whether it is the inner or the outer gear whichis held against rotation. If the inner gear be held from turning, thenit becomes the standard about which rotation is count-ed and the ratiois determined to the number of its teeth; however if the outer gear beheld against rotation as Shown at 59 A in Fi 2, while thespur gear51 beconnecte to the spindle 30, then that spindle will be drivenin theopposite direction and at a'ratio determined by the number of teeth onthe outer gear. ".lhus with gears of 36 and 39 teeth, the ratio will be12 to 1 in one direction when the smaller gear is held and 13 to 1 inthe op osite direction when the larger gear is' he d. Owing to the vlare number of teeth in contact, ,the -gears can e made comparatively thinwhich enables them to be punched instead of milled. y

The parts shown in Fig. 2 are essentially the same as in Fig. 1 so faras my improved iao gearing is concerned, the parts 46 to 50 bemgidentical and theonly difference being that the post 53 engages thespider 58* of the internal gear 59 instead of a finger carried by theexternal gear. Also the plate 14 is omitted, thus permitting the waterto swirl freely through the gearing, whereas in Fig. 1, although' theplate is not water tight and the gearing is submerged, the gear chamberdefined thereby is so closed that sand-bearing currents are excluded. y

In Fig. 2 I have sho'wn the ball 6 as formed on its upl er side with anaxial recess 40 in whic is received thespherical lower end of thenutatingstalf 35". The middle-,of this staff is provided with a ball 36lmounted in a socket formed in the top wall of the member 3'? of themetering chamber, and the gear 37'L is fastened directly to this staff,rotation being prevented by a pin or post 45a in, the socket engaging asuitable slot in the ball 36.

With this arrangement the control cone 38aL is necessarily carried on abracket 38h fastened to the bottom of the part 4'l of' thel chamber, thecontrol bar 39 nowmetering projecting downwardl This is aperfectlyoperative arrangement but is inferior tothe first for two reasons: theeffect of the .sta-fl is to oppose that of the cone, thereby increasingfriction; and the nutating gear 37a doesl no t make as good contact asthe sliding gear.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a gear assembly of my invention ready tosubstitute for the spurgear train ordinarilyemployed. 5" represents thenutating ball, 391 the contact-bar-roller, and 3b the top of themetering chamber. To this top I fasten a frame having at its center a deending hollow stud 61 taking the place of) the contact cone and carryinga rotating Spindle 62 with a star wheel 63 at its lower end to engagethecontrol bar 39. Carried by the upper end of the spindle is an eccentric64 (in place ofthe usual 8 or 9 tooth pinion) operating thenon-,rotating gear 37b which meshes with the internal ear 49B journaledby the spider 48u to the hub 47 of the bracket 46. The hub of'thisspider carries in turn a Second eccentric. 50 operating the nonrotatinggear 51a which meshes with a second gear 59'L which in turnengages thedogs 31. Incase this assembly t-gear train it will be substituted for aneigli be made as shown, but if substituted for a six-gear train it isnecessary to reverse one of the diferentials'as shown in Figa-2 and 4.In this view I have shown the eccentric "64 as provided with an axialilot 65 entering a bore in the next mem er for better centering. y op4It is characteristic of this class of devices that the disk 5 itselfdoes not rotate, being formed at one point with a slot 69 to straddlethe diaphragm 19. Many of the,

most careful metermakers seek to'keep the i element, a spindle,

sides of thisslot from rubbing against this diaphragm and expensiveexpedients have been employed to this end.` I have discovered that theportion of the disk adjacent to this diaphragm need not be continuousand that a roller 70 located in a notch 71 at this point and pivoted ona radial or nearly radial stud 72 serves every purpose, and runssatisfactorily against the diaphragm notwithstanding any accidentalbending or leaning thereof, as well as having no adverse effect upon theaccuracy of metering, inasmuch as close fit between the disk anddiaphragm is not essential. I have shown two rollers, one on each sideof the diaphragm, and this is the best construction, but in practice.the wear occurs practically all at one side, namely at the outletopening, and a single roller located at this point is sufficient.

While I have described my invention in detail, I do not limit myself tosuch details but claim as my own, not only the various alternatives hereillustrated and described,

but all others falling within the terms of nutating member, of a brackethaving la 1n bearing in line therewith, a hub journale said bracket andhaving an eccentric at one end and an internal gear at the other end, an

external gear operatively connected to saidy nut-ating member andmeshing with said internal gear, a spindle in line with said hub, and asecond internal and external gear interposed between said one of saidlast gears being connected to the eccentric and the other to thespindle, and means for holding one gear of each pair against rotation.'

2. Ina meter, in combination, a nutating a stuiing box therefor, a

single bearing in the common axis of said element and spindle, means tosupport said bearing, two-gears partially carried by `said bearing, onevhaving a rotary motion and the other a planetary motion, a gear pairedwith each of the irst gears, one connected to the nutating element andthe other to the spindle, one gear f-each pair being internal and the'other being external.

3. In a meter, the combination with a meteringdisk having ,a ball at itscenter and a hollow control cone having its axis directed towards thecenter of the ball, of a control bar carried by the ball and projectingadjacent to the exterior of the cone, the ball being recessed adjacentto said bar, and anuinto said recess.

4. In a.` meter, the combination with a metering disk `having a ball atits center and a hollow control cone having its axis directed'towardsthe center of the ball, of a eccentric and spindle,l

lou

ing through said cone and engaging said bar,

and a planetary gear operatively connected to said staff.

6. In a meter,` the combination with a nutating disk of an axial spindlerigid therewith and ,projecting therefrom,v-` a second nutating spindleengaginc With and adapted to be .driven bysaid hrst spindle, and adierentil gearing of the planetary type having one of its membersoperatively connected to said second spindle.

7 lIn a meter, the combination with a nutating disk, and arotatory-spindle, of a pair of internal and external gears, one of thesame being mounted for rotation about an axis concentric with the diskand the other operatively connected to said disk -or eccentric movementin time therewith, a second pair of internal andexternal gears,

operative connections between one of 'said last gears. and the spindle,means operative upon the yoperation of said first gears tol laiford'aneccentric movement to the other of said last gears, andmeans for holdingone gear of each, pair against rotation.

8. A gea-r train for'water meters comprising a support, a rotary membermounted therein and having an eccentric at one endy and an internal gearat the other end, a planetary gear adapted for actuation by a nutatingdisk, a second pair of yinternal and external gears, one connected tosaid eccentric and the other adapted to drive an integrating train, andmeans for holding one gear of each pair against rotation.,

9. As an article of manufacture and sale, a self-contained gearing unitfor existin meters comprising a yoke having a vertica aperture, a hubjournaled in said aperture and having a vertical .axial socket in itsupper end, an linternal gear carried by the lower end of said hub, andan eccentric carried by the upper end of' said hub, a spur-- gearmeshing with said internal gear and adapted to be gyrated by a nutatingdisk, a pair of intermeshing internal and external gears` located abovesaid yoke, one of the same being journaled in said axial socket and theother being journaled on said eccentric, and means for holding one ofeach pair of gears against rotation.

10. As an article of manufacture and sale yaes-.realer a replacementgear train for existing meters consisting of a supporting plate having aspindle adapted for rotation by a metering disk, and a pair ofdiii'erential gear mechanisms of the planetary typearranged in Series,the initial member of one pair being operatively connected to saidspindle.4

11. In a meter, a nutating disc,a stem carried thereby and movabletherewith, a first planet gear, afirst sun gear, a second planet gear, asecond sun gear, an operated` device, a non-rotatable lever having oneend lying in the path of movement of said stem and the other end" inengagement 4with one of said first gears 'whereby movement of said stemin response to the nutations of said disc will swing the one end of saidlever in a circular v path to thereby swing the other end of said leverin a circular path and thus impart to the gear engaged thereby anon-rotating circular translatory movement, means whereby the other ofsaid rst gears imparts to one of said second gears a non-rotatingcircular translatory movement, and means whereby the other of saidsecond gears operates said operated device.

12. In a meter, an operating device, a first planet gear, a first sungear, a second lanet gear, a second sun gear, an operated vevice, meanswhereby said operating device imparts to said lirst planet gear a.non-rotating circular translatory movement,means wherel saidrst s ungearfimparts to said secon' sun gear a non-rotating circular translatorymovement, and means whereby said Asecond planet gear operates saidoperated device.

13. In a meter, a nutating disc, a stem car- I riedthereby and movabletherewith, a planet gear, a sun gearland a lever having one end j lyingin the pat of movement of said stem and the other end in engagement withone of said gears and 'mounted independently of said gear, wherebymovementl ofsaid stemswing the one end of saidlever in a circular pathto thereby swing the other end of said lever 4in a circular path andthus .impart to kin response to the nutations of said disc will planetgear, a first sun gear, a second planet f y gear, a second sun gear, anoperated device,

a lever having one end lying in the path of movement of said stem andthe other end in engagement with one of said first -gears wherebymovement of said stem in'response to the nutations of said discwillswing the one end of said lever in a circular path to thereby swing theother end ofsaid lever in a circular path and thus impart to the gearengaged t ereby a non-rotating circular translatory movement, meanswhereby the other of said first gears imparts to one of `said secondgears a non-rotating circular parts to one of said iirst gears anon-rotating circular translatory movement, an eccentric operated by theother of sald rst gears to impart to one ofV said4 second gears anonrotating circular translatory movement, and

means whereby the other of said second gears operates said operateddevice.

16. In a meter, a nutating disc, a stem carried thereby and movabletherewith, a planet gear, a sun gear, and alever pivoted co'- axiallywith said disc and having one end lying in' the path of movement ofsaidstem on the opposite side of said axis from said stem and thel other endin' engagement with one of said gears whereby movement'of said stem inresponse to the nutations of lsaid disc will swing the one end of saidlever in a circular path to thereby-swing the other end of said lever ina circular path and thus'impart' to the gear engaged thereby anonfrotatlng circular translatory movement.

17. In a meter, a nu-tating'disc, a stem carried thereby and movableltherewith, a planet gear, a sun gear, anda non-rotatable lever havingone end lying in the path of movement of said stem and the other end inengagement with one of said gears whereby movement of said stem inresponse to the mutations of said disc will swin' the one end of saidlever in a circular pat to thereby swing the other end of said lever ina circular path and thus impart to the gear engaged thereby -anon-rotating circular translatory movement. v

18. In a meter, a nuta'ting disc, a stem carried thereby and movabletherewith, a planet gear, a sun gear, and a lever having one end lyingin the path of movement of said stem and the other end in engagementwith one of said gears whereby movement of said stem in response to thenutations of said disc will swing the one end of said'lever in acircular path to thereby swing the other endof. said 4 lever inacircular path and thus impart to the gear engaged thereby anon-rotating circular translatory movement. n 19. In a meter, anoperating device, a rst planet gear, a rst sun gear, a second planetgear, a second sun gear, an operated device, means whereby saidoperating device imparts to -one of said iirst gears a non-rotatingcircular translatory movement, means whereby the'other of said firstgears imparts to one. of said second gears a non-rotating circulartranslatory movement, and means whereby the other of said second gears'operates said operated device.

In testimony whereof, I hereuntoaix my signature.

